Bethesda parent company trademarks 'Oblivion' for use in films

ZeniMax Media -- umbrella company to Bethesda Softworks and id Software, among others -- trademarked the rights to the term "Oblivion" last month, as it pertains to "Motion picture film production; entertainment services, namely, providing motion picture theatrical films in the field of fantasy games." VGTribune noticed the filing, which raises the possibility of an Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion film -- or something related.

The past few years have yielded a mess of cross-media expansion from gaming into film, with everything from Assassin's Creed to Halo getting live-action content delivered pre-launch as part of a game's marketing campaign. THQ has even made it a goal to push its games across multiple mediums with an initiative set forth by "crossmedia" evangelist (and executive vice president) Danny Bilson. Zenimax could just as likely be preparing a promotional film for use as a prequel to a forthcoming Elder Scrolls sequel. Stranger things have happened.